Big Company Playing Small Ball in Florida Elections

Minto, a massive mega-community developer in Margaritaville and Westlake, FL, is linked to negative campaign mail pieces targeting the council members of Indian Trail Improvement District in Palm Beach County.

Early in August, negative mailers started to target Council Members Betty Argue and Keith Jordano, just months after they lost a years-long court battle to Indian Tail Improvement District that could have caused them to owe Palm Beach County $18 million in transportation development.

Minto contributed $100,000 to the Florida First Initiative PC from June to August 2024. The Florida First Initiative and Building Florida’s Future PC are both run out of the same office in Tallahassee. They both also share the same chairperson and the same treasurer.

Both PCs gave “Data Targeting” around $12,000 for “advertising” on July 26th. Nearly the exact same amount of money goes to the exact same company for the exact same purpose on the exact same day. Building Florida’s Future is the PC that paid for the negative ads targeting Indian Trail Improvement District leaders and advocating for a “change” in Indian Trail.

Sources familiar with this story tell Florida Daily (FD) that Minto may now be trying to exact revenge on the small special district of Indian Trail just because they won a lawsuit in court. “Where there is smoke, there is usually fire. Follow the money,” the source told FD.

West Palm Beach attorney J. Michael Burman called it “an attempt to do an end run around the trial court’s [preliminary] ruling” denying Minto Communities USA access to ITID roads.

Minto’s website describes their massive size in Florida.

Minto Communities USA, headquartered in Florida since 1978, has built more than 34,000 homes in 48 communities in Florida and South Carolina. New master-planned communities include Latitude Margaritaville Daytona Beach in Daytona Beach, Florida; Latitude Margaritaville Watersound near Panama City Beach, Florida; Latitude Margaritaville Hilton Head in Hardeeville, South Carolina, The Isles of Collier Preserve in Naples, Florida, and Westlake in Palm Beach County, Florida.

Other publications have been following Minto’s presence in the state.

Homebuilder Minto loses bid to use rural Palm Beach County road in building of Westlake [Palm Beach Post]

Minto is already trying to do an “end run” around the loss in court to Indian Trail Improvement District. [Town Crier]